


When She Comes By

by EzzyAlpha



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, Break Up, F/F, Melancholy, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyAlpha/pseuds/EzzyAlpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do you breakup with someone who was your life for eight years.</p><p>[100 Themes Challenge: 55-Separation]</p>
            </blockquote>





	When She Comes By

When she comes by to pick up her boxes, you want to hide. But you can’t. You are an adult and you must face your problems head on. But that’s the root of your problem. You are an adult. You weren’t when this began.

How do you breakup with someone who was your life for eight years.

Vriska’s car is an Audi V8 Spyder. You know this, because she never shut up about it. It was given to her by her wealthy mother, to shut her up after she made a scene about how she was never there. You know this, because you were there. You know the sound it makes well and you recognize it when it comes down the street. You look out of the window of your previously shared apartment, top floor of a town center brownstone. The car is long gone. You close your eyes, the spring breeze making your bangs flutter around.

It was autumn when you met her and you were 13. You had just moved into that town, dragged along by your mother once she got that job. You should’ve been thankful. You moved into a white picket fence house in a nice neighborhood, but you missed your home city and you missed your friends, and you stormed out of your new house.

Of course, as luck and dramatic tension would require it, you got lost. You sat crying behind an abandoned supermarket, alone and cold, orange and red leaves swooping around you, riding the strong wind.

You don’t remember what Vriska had said to get your attention but it was probably nothing nice. You do remember looking up and seeing her for the first time. Her messy hair was loosely tied in a ponytail and she wore an old t-shirt with terribly ill-fitting jeans. Her glasses were far too big for her face and taped together at the bridge, and a cigarette hanging from her lips. She had a scowl on her face, that softened once she saw you were crying.

You don’t remember how, but you got home with her help. Your mother nearly killed you.

You stop your recollections for a moment as you hear the car park. You wonder who she’s staying with. Terezi comes to mind, but you know they haven’t spoken in over a year. Neither of you are in contact with any of your high school friends anymore. You briefly wonder where Karkat has been. He never got along well with Vriska… Perhaps you should try calling him. Not like you have a reason not to, anymore.

You hear the building door creak. You should ask the landlady to fix it.

Damn it.

You don’t have the number. You’ll need to ask Vriska.

You know she is climbing the stairs right now, and it’s killing you inside.

You take a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down. This has been a long time coming. At least four years. You thought you were done when she finally pushed Aradia away… But then she had her accident. And things did get better, for a while at least.

The knock on the door startles you even if you expected it. You pause, looking out the window at the familiar sight. You take another deep breath and turn, walking to the door.

You hesitate again and she knocks again.

You open the door.

Vriska doesn’t look good. She looks like she hasn’t showered in a while and there are smudges on the lens of her glasses. Her eye patch is slightly crooked and you resist the urge to fix it. You look her over silently.

“Kanaya.” She mutters. You swallow dry.

“Hello. Vriska.”

You turn and walk away, not bothering to invite her in.

“I have your things here. They are in all these boxes. I tried to make it so you wouldn’t have to make many trips down the stairs, but, with your arm…I don’t know if they are too heavy, I-“

“Kanaya.”

You look back at her. Her eyes are dark, a scowl on her face.

“Is this it?”

You pause for a second.

This is it.

You nod. It’s too hard to use words right now.

“We…” she says, and lets her head drop “We were together for eight years, Kanaya. All through high school and college…How can you just leave me like this?”

You breathe in.

You want to apologize. You’re going to apologize. Vriska doesn’t deserve this.

Breathe out.

It’s no one’s fault. It just happens. People drift apart. You’re not the same person you were when you started high school.

Breathe in.

“I’m just done, Vriska.”

Her eyebrows shot up. You feel as surprised as you are sure she is. You gasp a little, but carry on.

“I forgave you for everything because I thought you needed me, and then you would go and do everything all over again. You never learned. And…”

You look away.

“I love you. I’ve always loved you. But I can’t carry on like this.”

You could make a speech. Blame her for everything that went wrong. You could scream and trash around.

But you don’t want to. You would just hurt both of you.

So you take another deep breath.

“You will be okay, Vriska. But I just can’t be with you anymore.”

She looks lost and you want to take her home. But you know you can’t.

Finally, she drops her head, her accusatory stare no longer piercing into your heart.

“Can…Can you at least help me with the boxes? I would do it alone, but…”

You’re surprised about how easily she gave up. You sigh. She knows it’s over as well as you do.

You smile.

“Your arm. Of course I will.”

Just this once. One more time for old times’ sake.

You pick up a box, which you think contains all her music CDs and as soon is fairly heavy, but immediately put it down, letting out a little “Oh!” as you remember something. You turn to her.

“I apologize, but, I need the landlady’s number. I don’t have it.”

She nods.

“Yeah, I’ll write it down for you.”

You take five trips down and up the stairs and you are left standing, together, in your much emptier apartment. You think about asking her where she has been staying but you stop yourself.

She’s looking at you. There’s an overall melancholic feeling to the room. You’re not sure how to explain it.

Ah, you know. It feels much like your high school graduation. You didn’t have a particularly good time in high school, and by the final month you were just dying to get out. But on graduation day, you suddenly just wanted to go back.

But you can’t go back. Some things are just better left finished.

“So…I guess this is goodbye.” She says, looking at nothing in particular.

You nod.

“Yes. Goodbye, Vriska.”

“Goodbye, Kanaya. It was fun.”

You pause, your breathing calm.

“Being fun isn’t everything.”

Vriska looks back at you, the dusk lighting accenting her features. You walk up to her and kiss her cheek, lightly.

She does nothing at first but eventually pulls you into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers.

“Don’t be.” You say “It’s not worth it and it won’t change anything.”

She sighs and takes a step back, looking over you one final time, before walking out the door.

You clutch the piece of paper with the landlady’s number on your hand. Your hands are sweaty; the letters are probably getting smudged. You hear Vriska’s car drive up the street. Five minutes later, you wipe away your face with your other hand. You don’t remember when you started crying.

You sit down on the sofa, looking over your far too empty apartment. You wonder if Karkat still uses his old number. Maybe you could try finding him on Facebook, but he was never a fan of those social websites.

You lean back, looking at the ceiling.

It’s over and you don’t know what to feel. It could be poetic, but you are too sad to consider it.

You sigh to yourself.

It might be over, but it happened. Bitterly and at times terribly, but it happened. You take comfort in that.


End file.
